Texas reported more than 10,000 new cases of COVID-19 Tuesday, and the state is now running out of monoclonal antibodies to help fight infections.
Monoclonal antibodies are laboratory-produced molecules that act as substitute antibodies and are used to help people fight off infection.
According to the Austin-American Statesman, Texas Department of State Health Services announced that its regional infusion centers in Austin, El Paso, Fort Worth, San Antonio and The Woodlands have run out of the monoclonal antibody sotrovimab – the only monoclonal antibody treatment effective against the omicron variant of COVID-19 – as of Monday.
A new shipment of sotrovimab is not expected to arrive in Texas until next month.
As of this week, an estimated 90 percent of COVID-19 cases in Texas are caused by the omicron variant. While the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention note that omicron is believed to spread easier than other variants of the virus, some scientists think it causes less severe infection than earlier variants.
Neither the CDC nor the World Health Organization has confirmed that omicron causes less severe illness than other COVID-19 variants as of Wednesday.
While supply of sotrovimab in Texas has been depleted, people in the state still have pending appointments to be treated with it. Those who had appointments at the impacted infusion centers will be notified, said the Statesman. If a patient has a COVID-19 infection that is not caused by the omicron variant, they can receive other monoclonal antibody treatments.
Sotrovimab is not authorized for patients who are hospitalized with COVID-19 or who require oxygen therapy due to their infection.
The CDC and other health agencies recommend that people get vaccinations to prevent COVID-19 rather than seeking treatment after contracting the illness. However, the omicron variant has caused some breakthrough infections in vaccinated people.
The Food and Drug Administration gave emergency use authorization for two new oral antiviral pills (the Paxlovid pill developed by Pfizer and the Molnupiravir pill developed by Merck) to treat COVID-19 infections. A limited supply is expected from the federal government.
“An initial 65,000 courses of Paxlovid will be made available for shipment to states and territories and will begin arriving at dispensing sites by the end of December,” according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Other ways to prevent COVID-19 infections are: wearing a mask, avoiding gatherings of people, social distancing and frequent hand washing.
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